Geoff Carr warns players off Samoa

[shinobi]

The sooner everybody gets over Origin being the pinnacle of the game the better.

International fixtures should be the focus. Having strong international teams is what is needed. The more players choosing to play for their country of heritage the better. Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and the Cook Islands could have really strong teams withing the next 5-10 years.

Young Australian born Polynesian players obviously hold their culture very close to them look at all the tatau/moko you see running aorund in the game today cant see too many australian flags and southern crosses in there.

 

[hutch]

The sooner everybody gets over Origin being the pinnacle of the game the better.

International fixtures should be the focus. Having strong international teams is what is needed. The more players choosing to play for their country of heritage the better. Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and the Cook Islands could have really strong teams withing the next 5-10 years.

Young Australian born Polynesian players obviously hold their culture very close to them look at all the tatau/moko you see running aorund in the game today cant see too many australian flags and southern crosses in there.

that doesnt make them any less australian than the rest of us.


i agree, internationals must be the pinnacle and there should be a fair amount of big games for all nations so players who have more than one connection can make a choice and stick with it!

 

[hutch]

No hutch, I'd say it's only me. What they say is above me simply because I disagree with them.

i actually agree with the both of you even though you are butting heads. i agree that somebody can be both an australian and a new zealander and that some people have dual nationality. i also think that you can be an australian maori.

i disagree that allowing tahu to play for the maori and nsw is the same as vidot as samoa and nsw. samoa is a country, the maori is a team of players of a certain racial background, they are not a national or test team.

 

[Eels Dude]

The sooner everybody gets over Origin being the pinnacle of the game the better.

International fixtures should be the focus. Having strong international teams is what is needed. The more players choosing to play for their country of heritage the better. Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and the Cook Islands could have really strong teams withing the next 5-10 years.

Young Australian born Polynesian players obviously hold their culture very close to them look at all the tatau/moko you see running aorund in the game today cant see too many australian flags and southern crosses in there.

Who's everyone? Internationals should be the pinnacle, but only if the countries involved are strong enough to compete in such competitions. And they're not. Continue living in a dream world if you wish and believe Cook Islands will compete with Australia wthin 5 years. Until these Island countries step up... which they'll struggle to do so due to the economy.. origin will be number 1.

 

[Springs]

i actually agree with the both of you even though you are butting heads. i agree that somebody can be both an australian and a new zealander and that some people have dual nationality. i also think that you can be an australian maori.

i disagree that allowing tahu to play for the maori and nsw is the same as vidot as samoa and nsw. samoa is a country, the maori is a team of players of a certain racial background, they are not a national or test team.

I disagree, but I understand.
Just the way I see it, Tahu is allowed to represent his heritage, Vidot is not. Just seems unfair to Vidot is all.

 

[nqcowboy87]

Young Australian born Polynesian players obviously hold their culture very close to them look at all the tatau/moko you see running aorund in the game today cant see too many australian flags and southern crosses in there.

thats cause the polys outweigh the bogans thank the lord

 

[Evil Homer]

Who's everyone? Internationals should be the pinnacle, but only if the countries involved are strong enough to compete in such competitions. And they're not. Continue living in a dream world if you wish and believe Cook Islands will compete with Australia wthin 5 years. Until these Island countries step up... which they'll struggle to do so due to the economy.. origin will be number 1.

Cook Islands obviously won't compete with Australia, your post is short sighted beyond belief and sadly this seems to be a common view amongst Australians.

 

[stormbati]

I say scrap the laws. Let players play for the big 3 and smaller nations if not picked. Get some big names in the sides.
Everyone might say, the international game will be a joke, but why not? I think it'll actually fast-track the development of smaller nations.
Make them invitational sides, we could create a lot more revenue with say Australia taking on Samoa full of Nrl stars/Nz rejects. Maybe the money made could then be given to the smaller nations?
Just a thought. Scrap the laws, grow the game then when its stronger bring the laws back.

 

[chrisc101]

I cannot believe the short sightedness of the ARL. The major opportunity for significant growth in Rugby League isn't through the NRL or SOO- these products are done. It is the international aspect of the game. Look at the profit the IRB make out of their world cup, this is exactly what we need to be aiming for.

The first step to this is to work out these silly rules which force players to play for Australia. I'm still fuming at the Uate situation.

 

[Bobby DIGital]

In crowds, televisions ratings, advertising, and revenue raised yes it is.

Which all comes from media hype.

Even overall 'quality' of games I'd argue they're far better also due to the overall contest. What exactly are internationals top of of seeing as you brought the argument up?

No they're not. Simple as that. Your 2nd sentence doesn't make sense so i'll overlook that.

And to reply to your question since you up "since 2005". Australia and NZ have played 12 times since 2005, how many have NZ won?

That barely matters when the Kiwis win (or compete very strongly) in the games that count.

Test footy just needs promotion. It's the best players in the world competing. Origin's some good players, mixed with some garbage players competing.

Bring on the 4 nations!

 

[bender]

I say scrap the laws. Let players play for the big 3 and smaller nations if not picked. Get some big names in the sides.
Everyone might say, the international game will be a joke, but why not? I think it'll actually fast-track the development of smaller nations.
Make them invitational sides, we could create a lot more revenue with say Australia taking on Samoa full of Nrl stars/Nz rejects. Maybe the money made could then be given to the smaller nations?
Just a thought. Scrap the laws, grow the game then when its stronger bring the laws back.

The problem here is that you dont get stronger smaller sides using this method. As soon as the smaller nations get a player who is of decent standard, they lose him. Like what happened with Uate. It should be one nation for life, and this wouldnt be a problem. And if they could work a way to make players financially better off by going with smaller nations such as salary cap concessions, not being considered an import, in the ESL or whatever, then with a regular schedule, it wouldnt be long before we have at least 16 nations would compete at the current level of Wales or France, and maybe even a little better. I think this is the way to go.

AS opposed to now, where we just had a world cup where Fiji elevated themselves to a new level, only to lose their two best players (and that makes a huge difference with their lack of depth currently). Same Goes with PNG and others.

I actually think that Samoa under these rules will be potentially a better side than New Zealand. Sure they are New Zealand rejects at the moment, but it is only a matter of time before many Australian Samoans come through and join Samoa (inelegible for NZ) as well as the current NZ Samoans. With one nation for life, they will get some World Class players before long, to match the NRL quality players they already have (and hopefully some talented locals).

 

[hutch]

I say scrap the laws. Let players play for the big 3 and smaller nations if not picked. Get some big names in the sides.
Everyone might say, the international game will be a joke, but why not? I think it'll actually fast-track the development of smaller nations.
Make them invitational sides, we could create a lot more revenue with say Australia taking on Samoa full of Nrl stars/Nz rejects. Maybe the money made could then be given to the smaller nations?
Just a thought. Scrap the laws, grow the game then when its stronger bring the laws back.

if you're happy with having 6 or 7 teams full of players who would rather be playing for aus or nz and rugby league continuing to be neglected in the pacific islands then this is the way forward. why play rugby league in samoa and tonga at all when they can just wait until aus and nz pick their teams and then they can just feed off the scraps. they might win a game or two every couple of years, but then when their players finally become good enough to represent their country of choice they leave and then we are back to square one.

no thanks! i would rather a long term strategy and development, with actual national teams with players committed to rugby league in that country instead of rep heritage teams. samoa (and tonga for that matter) dont deserve to be sending out a team as good as they are, rugby league is still barely played there. they are still yet to produce an nrl player from the islands and you cant really blame them, where is the incentive to develop and promote rugby league when they can get players for a couple of years and make themselves look good (eg. jennings, hayne, roberts, lautiti etc). but since there are so many talented players with samoan and tongan backgrounds, and many who would be willing to commit to their heritage country if they had the opportunity to play regular, meaningful test matches and tournaments, stop blaming origin and make these countries attractive to players who might be in two minds. if they still hold out for origin and australia, so be it! if they commit to their heritage, even better, but lets do it properly and set rugby league up in these countries for the future.

ps. this will never happen under the current administration

 

[shinobi]

If Samoa/Tonga/Fiji has the same prestige/money incentives/exposure as playing for Aus then i guarantee you a lot of these island players would choose their so called "heritage nation" over playing for Australia.

 

[franklin2323]

If Samoa/Tonga/Fiji has the same prestige/money incentives/exposure as playing for Aus then i guarantee you a lot of these island players would choose their so called "heritage nation" over playing for Australia.

Or NRL Clubs payed them the same as SOO players. That's the main issue you get great pay as a SOO player not so much as a Samoan.fiji international

 

[Joker's Wild]

Which all comes from media hype.



No they're not. Simple as that. Your 2nd sentence doesn't make sense so i'll overlook that.



That barely matters when the Kiwis win (or compete very strongly) in the games that count.

Test footy just needs promotion. It's the best players in the world competing. Origin's some good players, mixed with some garbage players competing.

Bring on the 4 nations!

Oh please Bobby, the media hype is there for a reason mate

The Kiwis have won 1 major title in how many years and the rest of the time have competed in the opening 20min before falling away as per. As for your best players in the world comment, well thats pretty subjective isnt it given how poorly Int'l games are attended compared to SOO.

Id love the International game to elevate to the standard we all want but its pretty frickin hard when people just dont get to the games or the eligability rules dont make any common sense.

BTW do you think your boys in black will actually make the final this year or just get caught with their pants down again thinking about 2008?

 

[Perth Red]

So Uate won't be eligible for NSW ever? What's the betting if he keeps his form he'll be in next year regardless of the fact he has represented his home country. SOO should NOT have any impact on International representation, SOO is in fact doing massive damage to the Int game on a number of levels. As a non Q'lander/NSWelshman I have far more interest in the 4nations than SOO.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Dude, SOO is not doing massive damage to the Int'l game. The eligability rules for International League is whats holding them back. If you can rep both NSW/Qld and your heritage country then things will improve massively.

It sh*ts me that everyone blames SOO for being successful. Get your arses to International games if you want them to succeed. Vote with your feet at the gate

 

[Springs]

Oh please Bobby, the media hype is there for a reason mate

The Kiwis have won 1 major title in how many years and the rest of the time have competed in the opening 20min before falling away as per. As for your best players in the world comment, well thats pretty subjective isnt it given how poorly Int'l games are attended compared to SOO.

Id love the International game to elevate to the standard we all want but its pretty frickin hard when people just dont get to the games or the eligability rules dont make any common sense.

BTW do you think your boys in black will actually make the final this year or just get caught with their pants down again thinking about 2008?

2005 Tri Nations plus 2008 World Cup plus 2006 Tri Nations draw at full-time, plus not losing to Australia in 2009 Four Nations. New Zealand > NSW from 2005-2010, easily.

As for your best players in the world comment, well thats pretty subjective isnt it given how poorly Int'l games are attended compared to SOO.

How do crowds determine whether the players are the best in the world or not?

 

[Joker's Wild]

How do crowds determine whether the players are the best in the world or not?

It doesnt but no one gets out in great numbers to watch "some good players and some garbage ones" go round as Bobby suggested. That simply doesnt happen

 

[ozbash]

BTW do you think your boys in black will actually make the final this year or just get caught with their pants down again thinking about 2008?

lol, dickhead.